The invention relates to a connecting element for mounting a blood pump or a cannula on a heart, and a system for mounting such a connecting element on the heart.
In the implantation of heart assist systems in particular, inserting a so-called inlet cannula or the inlet connecting piece of an implantable blood pump into the heart through a previously formed opening is problematic. If the implantation will be performed without the use of a heart-lung machine, the heart continues to beat during these manipulations, and therefore blood can freely flow out during the period after the opening is formed and before the cannula/pump is inserted if makeshift sealing measures are not implemented (sealing using thumb pressure is common). The makeshift sealing measures must be carried out very quickly, however. The blood loss cannot be perfectly prevented and increases in the period between formation of the opening and insertion of the cannula.
The problem is therefore that of closing the opening in the heart after it is formed and until the cannula/pump is inserted, thereby ensuring that problems do not occur due to a relatively long time period between formation of the opening and insertion.